The first ship entered the Kaliningrad region via the Northern Sea Route

The first ship entered the Kaliningrad region through Northern Sea Route (Northern Sea Route, NSR), reported Governor of the region Anton Alikhanov in his Telegram channel.

“Today the first ship arrived in the Kaliningrad region via the Northern Sea Route,” he wrote.

The ship, Alikhanov clarified, is traveling from Shanghai, calling at Arkhangelsk and now Baltiysk, with the destination being St. Petersburg. The governor noted that transport companies plan to make this route permanent.

“It turns out cheaper and faster than through the Suez Canal,” he concluded.

The Northern Sea Route, 5,600 km long, runs from Murmansk to Vladivostok along the Russian coast of the Arctic and Pacific oceans. Navigation in the eastern sector of the Northern Sea Route (from Taimyr to the Bering Strait) in winter is impossible without icebreaker assistance; the ice thickness there reaches 3 m. In 2021, cargo traffic on the NSR amounted to 34.9 million tons. From 2019 to 2021, the number of flights increased from 799 to 1627 per year, and cargo traffic increased by 11%. In 2022, 34 million tons of cargo were transported along the NSR.

Last year, the government approved a plan for the development of the Northern Sea Route until 2035. The plan includes 150 activities, which are included in five key sections: cargo base, transport infrastructure, cargo and icebreaker fleet, safety of navigation along the Northern Sea Route, as well as management and development of shipping according to NSR. 1.8 trillion rubles have been allocated for the implementation of the plan.

In July of this year, the government expanded the conditions for providing subsidies to companies performing cabotage transportation along the NSR between the ports of the Far East and north-west Russia. October 3, issues of development of the North and the NSR discussed at a meeting of the President with permanent members of the Security Council.